round two — six batches from what survived the first six
Re-inventoried 30 August 2026 · 21 bottles · ~6.8 litres · down from 33 bottles and 18.3 L
Six batches came off the shelf in the first round — the Aviation, Chrysanthemum, Coco Loco, Night Cap Stinger, Old Pal and Fuzzy Manhattan. They took the gin, the bourbon, the vermouth and the Puntacana with them. What is left is mostly modifiers: liqueurs, schnapps and one very large bottle each of dark rum, white rum and vodka.
So round two is built differently. The three bulk bottles do the structural work, and each batch is designed to take one or more of the small bottles all the way to zero. Same rules as before: 750 ml per batch, no water, no citrus in the bottle.
Pull these out first
You asked which else should come out as sippers. Two clear yeses, one judgement call.
Definitely sippers
El Dorado 12 — a genuinely good aged Demerara. Batching it would be vandalism. ~300 ml left.
Calvados Morin — ~150 ml, which is two proper pours. Apple brandy after dinner is exactly what this is for, and there isn't enough left to batch anyway.
Plus the Porto and Siete Leguas you've already pulled.
Judgement calls
John L. Sullivan Irish — the only whiskey left in the house. Sip it, or put it in coffee with the Kahlúa. I have not batched it.
B&B — traditionally a neat digestif, and you could keep it. But it is the backbone of No. 1, and that batch is the best thing in this booklet. Your call.
Pastis — not a sipper exactly, but there is no vermouth left to batch it with. Drink it the French way: 25 ml pastis, 125 ml cold water, no ice until it clouds.
Three bottles have no batch and need none. The Campari (220 ml) and Aperol (135 ml) have lost their mixing partners — no gin, no vermouth — so put them out with prosecco and soda as a spritz station and they will be gone in an evening. That is the fastest remaining clearance in the cabinet.
Choose your batch
Six batches, 4.5 litres of finished cocktail, and between them they take two bottles to absolute zero and leave seven more with barely a splash.
No.
Batch
Tastes like
Yields
Keeps
Bitter & spirit-forward
01
Dark & Bénédictine
the last of the B&B, doing something serious
9 pours
6 months
Sour & citrus
02
Mai Tai Base
amaretto standing in for orgeat, as it should
10 drinks
6 months
04
Dover Bramble Base
one bottle instead of two purple ones
10 drinks
6 months
Rich & tropical
03
Coconut Daiquiri Base
finishes the Clément, and it is the good stuff
10 drinks
6 months
After dinner
05
The Beachcomber
four dying bottles, one bottle of dessert
10 pours
2 months
06
Bottled Peppermint Patty
retires the Kahlúa and most of the vodka
10 pours
3 months
Measure before you mix. Three of my photo estimates have already turned out wrong — the cassis, the Puntacana and the Peachtree — and every one was a dark or opaque bottle. The Mahina Coco in No. 3 is the least certain number here. Check the bottle against the recipe before you start pouring.
The batches
No. 01Bitter & spirit-forward
Dark & Bénédictine
the last of the B&B, doing something serious
Two ingredients, no citrus, nothing to measure twice. Jamaican rum has the funk and the molasses; B&B brings honey, herbs and a faintly ecclesiastical sweetness that fills the role sugar plays in an Old Fashioned. At 40% in the bottle it is the strongest thing here and the one that will still be good next spring.
Makes750 ml · one bottle · 9 pours
Keeps6 months, refrigerated
One pour82 ml (2¾ oz), stirred over ice
The batch
450 mlMyers's Original Dark
300 mlB&B
25 dashesAngostura bitters
Make & serve
Stir together, funnel, done.
Per drink: stir 82 ml with ice for 20 seconds.
Strain over one big cube. Orange peel, expressed.
ClearsB&B (finishes it)Myers's Dark Rum
Roughly 40% in the bottle, so this genuinely needs its twenty seconds on ice. It is also the easiest batch in the booklet — two bottles and a dasher.
If you'd ratherSweeter and lower: cut the Myers's to 350 ml and add 100 ml of Mahina Coco. Coconut and Bénédictine is a strange, good combination.
No. 02Sour & citrus
Mai Tai Base
amaretto standing in for orgeat, as it should
A real Mai Tai is rum, orange liqueur, lime and orgeat — and orgeat is just almond syrup, which means the Disaronno has been the answer all along. Bottle everything except the lime and you are ninety seconds from the best drink in this collection whenever someone asks.
Makes750 ml base · 10 drinks
Keeps6 months, cupboard or fridge
One pour75 ml base + 22 ml lime, shaken
The batch
300 mlMyers's Original Dark
200 mlBacardi Superior
150 mlDeKuyper Triple Sec
100 mlDisaronno Amaretto
Make & serve
Combine the four and bottle. No citrus goes in.
Per drink: 75 ml base, 22 ml fresh lime juice.
Shake hard with crushed ice, dump the whole thing into the glass. Mint sprig.
ClearsDisaronnoTriple SecMyers'sBacardi
Dump-style is not laziness — pouring the crushed ice in with the drink is how a Mai Tai is supposed to arrive, and it keeps diluting as you go.
If you'd ratherOut of lime? 22 ml of lemon works and tastes closer to a Fog Cutter. Do not use bottled juice for either.
No. 03Rich & tropical
Coconut Daiquiri Base
finishes the Clément, and it is the good stuff
Mahina Coco is rhum agricole with coconut macerated into it — dry, grassy, nothing like a piña colada mixer. Against clean white rum and a whisper of orange it makes a daiquiri that tastes like somewhere considerably warmer than Massachusetts in September.
Makes750 ml base · 10 drinks
Keeps6 months, cupboard or fridge
One pour75 ml base + 22 ml lime, shaken
The batch
400 mlBacardi Superior
300 mlClément Mahina Coco
50 mlDeKuyper Triple Sec
Make & serve
Bottle the three. That is the prep.
Per drink: 75 ml base, 22 ml fresh lime, 5 ml simple syrup if you like it rounder.
Shake hard, double-strain into a coupe. Lime wheel.
ClearsMahina CocoBacardiTriple Sec
⚠ Measure the Mahina Coco before you commit — the bottle is opaque and my estimate of what's left in it is the least reliable number in this booklet.
If you'd ratherWant it long? Build 75 ml over ice in a highball, 22 ml lime, top with soda. Same base, twice the drinking.
No. 04Sour & citrus
Dover Bramble Base
one bottle instead of two purple ones
You asked whether the cassis and the violette could be combined. Not as a blend — the cassis would flatten the violette entirely — but as a deliberate base they work, because the vodka gives the florals room to breathe. It comes out the colour of a bruised plum and drinks like summer.
Makes750 ml base · 10 drinks
Keeps6 months, cupboard or fridge
One pour75 ml base + 22 ml lemon, topped with soda
The batch
400 mlTito's Vodka
200 mlMathilde Cassis
150 mlCrème de Violette
Make & serve
Combine and bottle.
Per drink: shake 75 ml base with 22 ml fresh lemon and ice.
Strain into a tall glass of crushed ice, top with soda. Lemon wheel, berries if you have them.
ClearsMathilde CassisCrème de VioletteTito's Vodka
This retires both purple bottles and a third of the vodka in one go — the single most efficient shelf move left to you.
If you'd ratherSkip the soda and serve it up as a straight sour: 75 ml base, 22 ml lemon, egg white. Denser, more grown-up, still purple.
No. 05After dinner
The Beachcomber
four dying bottles, one bottle of dessert
Gubba, Rum Jumbie, the banana cream and the last of the crème de banane are all sitting at the bottom of their bottles taking up shelf space. This kills every one of them and tastes, alarmingly, like a milkshake that could drive you home. It should not work. It works.
Makes750 ml · one bottle · 10 pours
Keeps2 months, refrigerated — it contains dairy
One pour75 ml over a full glass of ice
The batch
300 mlBlue Chair Bay Banana Rum Cream
160 mlKahlúa
135 mlRum Jumbie Vanilla — all of it
80 mlCrème de Banane
75 mlGubba Silver — all of it
Make & serve
Shake everything together hard, then bottle.
Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour 75 ml over.
Grate nutmeg on top. Blend it with a scoop of ice if you want it frozen.
ClearsGubba (dead)Rum Jumbie (dead)Crème de BananeBlue Chair BayKahlúa
The only batch here with a real clock on it. Cream liqueur means two months refrigerated, not six — and it must live in the fridge from the moment you make it.
If you'd ratherMake it a Bushwacker: blend 150 ml with 60 ml cream of coconut and a cup of ice. Serves two, and it goes down like a milkshake.
No. 06After dinner
Bottled Peppermint Patty
retires the Kahlúa and most of the vodka
Unapologetically a dessert and completely unrepentant about it. No water in this one either — it is built to be poured over a full glass of ice, which does the diluting for you, with a splash of cream if the evening is going that way.
Makes750 ml · one bottle · 10 pours
Keeps3 months, refrigerated
One pour75 ml over a full glass of ice
The batch
350 mlKahlúa
250 mlS.S. Pierce Peppermint Schnapps
150 mlTito's Vodka
Make & serve
Stir together and bottle.
Pour 75 ml over a rocks glass packed with ice.
Float a spoonful of cream in the glass if you want it as a dessert.